Thought – Word – Goal

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I may be unskilled as a speaker, but I’m not lacking in knowledge. (2 Corinthians 11:6)

Thought:

I have often been concerned that I am not, in any official way, qualified to be doing this every day. But when I read similar thoughts from the apostle Paul himself, I am reassured. In today’s passage, Paul was worried about the power of charismatic, but mistaken men, who might beguile the Corinthians who were eager for teaching and guidance in their new faith. I am reassured today because all I have to use are the Bible itself and an iPad. My daily devotionals are totally centred around the scriptures. I am completely focused on helping as many as are interested, to read the bible itself. I hope my thoughts may be interesting and perhaps thought provoking, but my hope is that the scripture will speak for itself. What I know is that the bible is the word if God, and it is only God who can cause a persons heart to open to him. All I have done is commit to delivering His message.

Word:

2 Corinthians 11:1-6 NLT

I hope you will put up with a little more of my foolishness. Please bear with me. For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ. But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed. But I don’t consider myself inferior in any way to these “super apostles” who teach such things. I may be unskilled as a speaker, but I’m not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every possible way.

Goal:

We all know some “super apostles”, as Paul puts it. People who seem to be so much better than us at everything. Richer, better looking, more relaxed, much better Christians then we are. Today, my goal is to remind myself that God himself has spoken to me, and he is in my heart forever. By comparison to that, the words of any man or woman are meaningless unless they are speaking the truth of God himself. I need to remember God. I need to remember it all comes from Him and belongs to Him. I want to spend time with God each day by reading his word directly and praying with him directly. After that, any preaching or teaching I hear can be seen as a valuable bonus or a boost, but not the mainstay of my faith. The mainstay of my faith will always be the word of God himself.